If the Avalanche is to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in team history, it will have to make up eight points on the eighth-place Minnesota Wild and do it by playing 18 of its last 28 games on the road.

The Avs had all the spark of a waterlogged book of matches when it counted Thursday night in the end to their five-game homestand, losing 6-3 to the Atlanta Thrashers at the Pepsi Center. In what many Avs players said was the crucial stretch of their season, they finished with four of a possible 10 points and now face Dallas, Anaheim and Calgary (twice) in the next four games – with three on the road.

“It was just an unacceptable start tonight,” said Avs veteran Ian Laperriere, one of the few who played hard and well overall. “You can’t do that this time of the year. Maybe it’ll be good for us to get on the road.”

This used to be the time of year Avs watchers started laying bets on who their first-round playoff opponents would be. Now, after another home loss, they are clearly a longshot to make it.

Former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley’s Thrashers made it a quick night for Colorado goalie Jose Theodore, chasing him after one period with three goals on 11 shots. The high-priced netminder got another Bronx cheer when it was announced he had been replaced by Peter Budaj to start the second period.

“We made the change to try and wake things up. But it wasn’t the goalie’s fault tonight. In this homestand, the starts were flat-out unacceptable,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “Tonight, we’re certainly disappointed. We should have had a start with some energy, coming off a big win (Tuesday) with some momentum.”

It was a team effort in futility in the first period. It wasn’t Theodore’s fault that Wojtek Wolski was napping on the right side and failed to check Atlanta’s Slava Kozlov, whose shot to the far post made it 2-0 at 13:51. It wasn’t all Theodore’s fault on the third goal, by Garnet Exelby, when his teammates stood around and didn’t hit anybody in front.

But you knew it might be a long night when Atlanta fourth-liner Brad Larsen, a former Av, beat Theodore with a fluttering shot from the short side at 2:07 to start the scoring.

“I don’t know how many chances they had, but they finished every one of them,” said the Avs’ Ken Klee.

Down 5-1, the Avs made it a bit interesting on goals by Jordan Leopold and Paul Stastny, but there was no repeat of Tuesday’s dramatics against Florida. The Avs put a lot of shots on net, tying their season high with 48, but they came out flat and fell way behind.

Klee and Laperriere are too good of teammates to call anybody out individually for lack of effort, but each made subtle hints that perhaps a sense of urgency is lacking with some these days.

Asked if the Avs need a team meeting right now, Klee said: “Well, we need to focus. Team meetings only get you so far. It’s up to each individual to come ready to play. We don’t quit as a team, so I like that about us. But you can’t get down 4-0 to a team like that, or any team. I don’t fault our goalie for any of the goals. We just made too many mistakes in the first period and they capitalized.”

WASHINGTON — Thirty games into the 82-game NHL season, and nearly six weeks after the Matt Duchene trade, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic discussed the state of his team before Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Rockies continued to bolster their bullpen Wednesday by agreeing to a contract to bring left-handed reliever Jake McGee back to Colorado. A major-league source confirmed the news, but the Rockies have not made the signing official.